The life of an athletic director at any level can be busy. This time of year not only are there sporting activities, but there are proms, graduation and other end of school year events taking place to add to the load ADs face. Both Ray Noel at Vance County High School and George Hoyle Jr. at Thales Academy certainly have full plates.
Noel says the Vance County Vipers are about at the halfway point for baseball, softball and soccer. Playoffs for baseball and soccer will begin in the first week of May with soccer following in the second week of May. The baseball and softball teams are coming off wins against Granville Central and the girl’s soccer team, which is described as young by Noel, has now started to win some games with two conference victories under their belt.
The baseball team is down a player at the moment according to Noel. “Chris Jones is in California for an All-Star Football game,” Noel said. Jones, a star on the Viper’s football team, is also a big part of the baseball team as well. Noel also said the Isman Alston Jr., another Vipers football standout, has just signed with St. Augustine. He also plays on the baseball team.
Over at Thales Academy in Rolesville, Henderson’s George Hoyle Jr. is the athletic director, and he is as busy as Noel. He also has a young soccer team with only one senior and a tough non-conference schedule has now resulted in a couple of conference wins, with the team having won its last two games. His softball team is in the same position, young but improving with a 3-5 record. Varsity baseball is definitely on the upward track at Thales as they are now 6-3. Thales’ is set to be good for the foreseeable future as well. “Our middle school talent is ridiculous,” Hoyle said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. The school, which started in 2007, has shown tremendous growth as they are now a 3A school and could soon be a 4A.
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